E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Israel confirms major gas find
[Al Jazeera] Noble Energy, a US-based oil and gas firm, along with its Israeli exploration partners, have confirmed the discovery of a huge offshore gas field called Leviathan, 130km off the coast of the Mediterranean port of Haifa.
Whew! If it had been oil, the cartel would have had to figure out how to keep them icky juices from joining their lily-white organization.
Delek Energy, one of the Israeli partners, said on Wednesday that the discovery was the largest deepwater natural gas find in the world in the past decade.
Actually, there already are techniques to turn natural gas into oil -- hydrogenating it or something, like Crisco. This could get very interesting.
Leviathan is estimated to have 450 billion cubic metres of gas and could transform Israel into an exporter of gas.

Tamar, a nearby site already being drilled by Noble and Delek, was the largest gas find in the world in 2009, at 8.4 trillion cubic feet.

"A world power," read a headline in Israel's Maariv newspaper, describing the country's new energy potential.

But experts noted that there is currently a glut in natural gas and that unlike oil, which is sold on global markets, gas is geographic and needs a specific buyer.

"It's not a great time for Israel to enter a lot of the markets," Brenda Shaffer, an energy expert at the University of Haifa, told Rooters news agency.

"European consumption is going down, new suppliers are coming on. I'm not sure there's a buyer waiting by the door at this point."
Then Israel should just keep it for home use, and stop buying oil from Egypt, or whomever.
Shaffer also said thon the lamr amounts have been discovered onshore, where it is also cheaper to produce than in deep water.
Posted by: Fred 2011-01-01
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=312994